Kurt Russell on His Fast and Furious Character & Shooting Schedule & Why No to Expendables 3

Kurt Russell - who as a side note is just as cool, down to earth, and generally awesome as fans would hope - is busy doing press for his upcoming film The Art of the Steal. The Con Man comedy will be available on Video-On-Demand from February 17 and opens in theaters on March 14 (stay tuned for more on that).

IGN was able to sit down with Russell recently to talk about the film. During the course of our conversation we touched on his role in The Fast and the Furious 7, when he may go back into production, and what attracted him to the Fast franchise versus something like The Expendables.

Questions and speculation about how Universal would handle the future of the Fast franchise following Paul Walker's tragic death in November have been circulating for months and production does seem to be moving forward. Vin Diesel announced the new Fast and Furious 7 April 10, 2015 release date via his Facebook page in December, and recent reports have indicated that the they are currently filming in Dubai.

When we asked Russell if there had been any progression in his shooting schedule, he indicated that the specifics were still in flux, but that he was still attached to the project, saying, "I've been told April, maybe May, maybe Dubai, maybe Atlanta, maybe LA."

When Russell originally boarded the film, early reports hinted that his character would appear briefly in the seventh film, and then have an expanded role in the eighth.

"That's going to be interesting," Russell said when asked if he'd still be a part of Fast 8. "Because the character has been purposely been treated in a certain way so that he can or can't. The 'can' will be an interesting stretch. It works, because I understand what it is and we came up with it. It's like, 'Oh, wow! That's cool!' If he doesn't, then he doesn't. If he gets killed, he gets killed. That will be for them to determine. I just wanted to be able to work with them making the best possible character to either be sad he doesn't move on or say, 'Yeah, I want this character to move on -- we need this character to move on.' That sort of thing. I don't know what the situation, with Paul dying, does to that. I don't know."

Walker, Vin Diesel and Russell on the set of Fast 7.

When asked if things would change because the character had been designed as a father-figure to Walker's Brian O'Connor, Russell said, "He's really more connected to Vin's character."

Very few specifics about the details of that relationship have been revealed. When asked if he is playing a cop who is working with, or investigating, Vin's character, Russell said, "No. The character that I play is presented as one thing, but you have a big suspicion that he's another. Vin's character is -- it's really the family around Vin that's going to be suspecting "Why is he involved with this guy?" It was always going to be Vin's character who he was a father figure to -- but he's either a good one or a bad one."

The actor, who has been judicious about the projects he's wanted to take on, said he was attracted to the Fast franchise, in part, because he finds it "interesting how they've stayed beneath the radar and had such success." Adding, "I admire that."

When asked if there was something appealing about the Fast and Furious franchise, versus something like Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables, Russell said, "Yeah. I mean, I'm glad Sly's done well with this. He's a great person. The fellas all seem to have a good time. I've never seen any of them. It's not a beat I get. It's like looking backwards to me. There's something about Fast & Furious. It has that mystery to me -- and it's for a funny audience, you know? It's for a 15 to... 30? I think now you can take that from 15 to 45, and I think that's what's interesting about that. I like the way Vin talks about it -- it's a saga. It's not a series, it's a saga. I think that Paul dying is a part of that saga."

Russell reiterated that, though he'd only known him for a short while, he'd admired Walker, and was deeply saddened by his loss.

"He was a great guy," the actor said. "He was a terrific person. How can you not like that guy? Everything about him was cool. Yeah, and he was just coming into a part of his life I think where he was beginning to say, 'Well, I've kinda got my life going great. What is it artistically I wanna do? Now I'm comfortable to say, Let me tear it apart and find out. Let me tear this engine apart and find out what's there.' Boom. Lights out. Terrible. Life! Life..."